Sick Of Screwing Up DangerZone, a Degrassi Fan Fi
by xDangerZone
Summary: Eli is writing a story to submit to his favorite magazine - Gothic Tales. When Clare helps by editing his story, Stalker Angel, Eli is more than happy... at first. But from there, things don't turn out as planned, and Eli is not happy about it.


Sick of Screwing Up

Story/Episode 1

Danger Zone – A Degrassi Fan Fiction Series

"I've got something for you." Eli was referring to his latest story – _Stalker Angel._ He had been working on his "masterpiece", as he called it, every chance he got – in between periods, lunch, study hall, downtime at home, even before bed, instead of reading. Eli hoped that his story would be published in _Gothic Tales_, one of his favorite magazines. In the last month's issue, the editor asked for readers to submit their own fiction short stories. This is why he had to work so hard on _Stalker Angel_ – it had to be perfect.

Now, Eli was standing next to Clare's locker, holding out a sloppy copy of the story to her. He had finally finished it yesterday night, but wanted Clare's opinion before he submitted it to _Gothic Tales_.

"Stalker Angel?" she assumed, taking the copy of the story from Eli.

"You never got a chance to read it last night. So, I thought you'd want to go over it before we submit it." Eli replied.

"I'd love to." Clare answered. She smiled up at her boyfriend, closed her locker, picked up her backpack and was off to class.

Eli loved that he had Clare to edit his work. He always felt so much better about his writing when he was critiqued and things were added/removed by a second party. He was sure with Clare's editing skills and his talent for writing horror, _Stalker Angel_ was a shoe-in to be published in _Gothic Tales_. Eli smiled to himself and with that, he walked down the hall towards his next class.

Later that day, Clare stayed after school to get some quiet time to review _Stalker Angel_. She thought the story was wonderful before she edited it, but she told herself _"there's always room for improvement."_ She reworded a few things and added some lines to give the reader more details about the scene and the mood. Clare felt like she was editing a bit too much. _"It is __Eli's__ story"_ she said to herself. But when she read it over, she concluded that she had not changed the storyline, just enhanced the profoundness and detail. After an hour and a half of serious editing, Clare's brain was fried. She gathered her things and started her walk home.

The next day, Clare was in school early for a yearbook club meeting. On her way to the room the meeting was being held in, she passed Eli's locker and slipped the edited _Stalker Angel_ into his locker.

The meeting ended a bit early, and Clare packed up for the day fairly quick. She fast-walked down the halls of Degrassi to get to the English room. It was about 7 minutes before class started, and she had a feeling Eli might be there. When she got there, sure enough Eli was sitting in his desk, the only person in the room. He was reading the new-and-improved _Stalker Angel_ Clare had slipped into his locker.

"Hi" Clare said, standing in the doorway.

Eli didn't budge. He was very intent on reading. This worried Clare. Her mind automatically assumed the worst. _"He hates it!"_ she thought. She walked into the room and stood next to her desk, the seat right behind Eli.

"Did I add too much?" she asked, nervously. This time, Eli stood up with immense enthusiasm.

"It's way better! I'm super impressed Clare!" he exclaimed.

"Really?" she replied, in awe. A wave of relief washed over her. She pulled in her amazing boyfriend for a hug. They stood there for a moment, then the bell rang and students began to file into the room. Eli and Clare took their seats along with the other kids.

By the time school let out, it was pouring outside. Luckily, Eli had driven himself today. He dashed from the front doors of Degrassi to his hearse, Morty. He drove himself home, parked in front of his house, but he couldn't bring himself to get out and go inside. He was lost in thought. After a while of sitting with no noise but the pitter-patter of the rain outside, Eli went through his bag and pulled out _Stalker Angel_. Flipping through the pages, he stopped at the last one. Excitedly, Eli began editing his story once again.

Finally, the next day had come. Eli excitedly walked through the school hallway, _Stalker Angel_ in hand. He stopped in front of Clare's locker, where Clare was getting her books organized for the day. Eli held out the story to her, and she looked up at him, confused.

"With all the drama last night, the rain, the thunder… it really got me thinking about the ending" he explained.

"You changed the ending again?" Clare replied. This must have been at least the fifth time.

"I really think I've nailed it this time" Eli said, enthusiastically. He put his arm around Clare and together they walked, Eli explaining the new ending. When the point came that they had to part and go to their separate classes, they both agreed the story was now perfect and ready for submission. The first thing Eli did when he got home that day was put _Stalker Angel_ in an envelope and walk down the block to the mailbox on the corner. He smiled to himself as he watched his story disappear and settle among the other letters.

Finally, the day came. Eli had been waiting for over three weeks. Today was the day the new _Gothic Tales_ issue was published. Eli raced through his morning routine and drove down to the closest bookstore to his house. When he at last pulled up in front of the small store, he nearly jumped out of his hearse. Eli pressed his hands against the glass window of the store as he gazed in, looking at the rack of magazines in the front. Right there on the top shelf was the newest edition of _Gothic Tales._

The owner looked up at Eli and shot him a confused look. With this, Eli raced into the store and grabbed one of the _Gothic Tales _on display. Eagerly, he flipped through the pages. When he got to the back portion of the magazine, he skimmed more intensely. At last, Eli came to the short stories. He glanced at the titles. _Killer on the Corner, Who's There?, Evil Inside_… no sign of _Stalker Angel_. He flipped through the entire magazines at least three more times, but still he did not see his story. _Stalker Angel_ had not been published.

Eli had spent so much time reading the magazine that it would have been rude not to buy it. He bought a copy, hopped back in his car and drove to school, steamed. _"How could they not pick mine?"_ he thought to himself. _"I worked so hard."_

When Eli arrived at Degrassi, he did a hasty parking job, slammed the door and headed towards the entrance. Clare was walking in at the same time. She saw Eli with _Gothic Tales _in his hand and became excited. She ran over to him. Without a word, he held out the magazine to her. Clare didn't suspect what had really happened. She assumed Eli was teasing. But as she flipped through the pages, her smile faded. Slowly she looked up at Eli. He was looking at his feet.

"Oh, Eli…" she began. Clare felt absolutely terrible. She knew how hard he worked on his story, and she couldn't bear to see him look so sad. Eli lifted his head and met her eyes. His expression was not disappointed, as she had assumed. It was more like enraged.

"This is all YOUR FAULT!" Eli screamed at her. He didn't care who heard or what they would think. All he could focus on was his false belief that because he let Clare edit his story, she ruined it. Clare just stared at him, shocked. She backed away slowly, then turned around and hurriedly walked inside the school.

The rest of the day, Eli completely isolated himself. He wouldn't talk to anybody, not even Adam. By the time the last bell rang, his anger had simmered down, and although he was still upset about not being published, he was more disappointed in himself for blaming Clare. _"I did it __again__"_ he thought to himself. _"I screwed up __again__!"_

Eli grabbed the books he needed from his locker, got into Morty, and drove straight home. He parked, went inside and immediately did his homework, still in silence. When his homework was complete, he organized his things and headed up to his room. Being silent all day got him thinking, and he was so upset that he concluded he was useless. He packed a small bag, put it in the back of Morty, climbed in himself and pulled out of the driveway. Eli was running away.

-Caroline

-FunnyMoments110

-xdtng110x

-xDangerZone


End file.
